Before Midnight

After seeing a few big budget Hollywood films recently, a couple of comedies and an action blockbuster, it was refreshing to sit down to something with a gentler pace, where the scenes didn’t change every few seconds, where we could just let ourselves been drawn into conversations between people that seemed so real. That was the case with the movie we saw last night, Before Midnight.

The second scene of the movie is a long, uncut dialogue, shot through the windscreen of Jesse and Celine’s car as they drive along a road in Greece with their twin daughters asleep in the back seat. It’s the perfect piece to let the audience get to know a little more about the characters and to ease into the unhurried nature of the film.

Before Midnight is a 2013 American romantic drama film and the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). Like its predecessors, the film was directed by Richard Linklater and starred Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. As with the previous film, Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy shared screenplay credit. Following a limited opening, the film was released wide on June 14, 2013. It received universal acclaim from critics and grossed over $10 million worldwide. – wiki

Before Midnight is a movie that has received glowing reviews from so many but I must admit that I can’t find too much to recommend in it. I’ve mentioned the slowed down pace and I really did enjoy that, but I found it hard to like the characters portrayed.

What Before Midnight does well is remind us that we are all deeply flawed people. None of us has it all together and we’re all pretty much facing life one day at a a time, doing the best we can. I don’t want to see perfect people on the screen in a movie such as this but this wasn’t a love story, it was a story of a couple of selfish people feeling resentful about not getting their own way. The hurtful way they both throw around words has you wondering how they’ve stayed together over a period of years. Both refused to debate the point behind their arguments, preferring to push the knife deeper and deeper into the wound by using words as weapons against each other.

Jesse was resentful that he couldn’t spend more time with the son he fathered to his ex-wife before he cheated on her with Celine. Celine resents pretty much all of her day to life including having to look after their beautiful twin girls. Both refuse to admit cheating on each other, even though their own relationship was a result of cheating on previous partners. The film could have been greatly enhanced by someone wandering in during one of their arguments and telling them both to grow up. Much is made of the fact that the characters are now in their early forties but they act like spoiled teenagers.

If this movie is designed to show the bitterness that results from following our own selfishness rather than seeking the best for others through commitment, integrity and sacrifice, it’s done its job, but don’t try to tell me it’s about love or romance.

Many people will see this film and love it. I was just glad when it was all over.

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